Since there were so many photos on this page, I posted a number of my Sugar Maple photos onto Acer saccharum saccharum instead of here, plus comments. I think this is the most glorious of all large maple species in the whole world; besides being the source of maple syrup. This species is usually found as one of the dominant trees of climax forests because it tolerates heavy shade. In some climax forests of Michigan, Sugar Maple & American Beech take over as the ultimate dominating trees species, replacing the sub-climax Oak & Hickory that replaced pioneer trees of Boxelders, Green Ash, Cottonwoods, and some other sun-loving tree species.

Reply to this comment

Most cultivars are less cold-hardy than the species. Subject to bark cracking if heavily pruned. Needs a wide space.

Reply to this comment

Sugar maples can be tapped for their sap, which is boiled down into maple syrup, but only in certain climates. They can only be tapped where the weather repeatedly rises above freezing and drops again regularly for a long time, because when spring weather comes, the sap rises from the roots, and when it freezes again the sap flows back down. A long period of regular freezes and thaws means a long period when the right kind of sap is accessible in the trunk in large quantities.

Each maple can have one hole drilled in it for sap tapping per foot of trunk diameter. You can buy maple spouts to insert in the holes, and hooks to hang buckets for the sap to drip into. Be sure to check the buckets frequently. A five gallon bucket can fill surprisingly fast and overflow.

The sap itself tastes little like maple syrup. It may be a bit grainy, but when filtered it might make a decent drink, though not a sweet one.

Maple syrup was made by Native Americans and by settlers.

After it's collected and cleaned, it is boiled, boiled, boiled down. It takes several dozen gallons of sap to make a single gallon of maple syrup, and that takes time. It is probably a bad idea to do it indoors, as it can make the walls and stuff sticky. I think I have heard of people using turkey fryers to boil it down outside. Other people find ways to boil it outside in larger containers.

If you learn about the process and find a way to cook it down that works for you, maple tapping and syrup making can be a fun and rewarding activity, especially for families with children.

When I was a kid, we tapped our maples but brought the sap to a nature center that produced its own syrup. They kindly agreed to let us trade in our buckets of sap for bottles of their fresh maple syrup. It was a great experience.

Reply to this comment